I'm not afraid of you
by Hatchspeut
Summary: PRMF. My take on how Nick was saved from Koragg's spirit in Mystic Fate Part I.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own Power Rangers

* * *

 **I'm not afraid of you**

Claire came to meet them when they returned to Rootcore; Udonna and Daggeron first with the wounded Leanbow hanging limp between them, the rangers trailing in their wake.

"What happened?" the former apprentice-in-training asked. The misery must have shone on their faces.

"Nick, the little weasel, sold us out - that's what happened!" Vida slammed her fist into the nearest tree and growled.

"He has joined the Master," Xander explained.

"What?" Claire gasped. "No, Nick would never..."

Xander and the others pushed their way passed her. Once inside the green ranger spoke again.

"I can't believe this. Nick is Koragg? No, no, no... Not Nick. He wouldn't do this, would he?"

Chip held up is hands in defence. "Don't look at me, I'm just as baffled as you are. I always pictured Nick as a Clark Kent kind-off guy, not a Lex Luthor."

Vida rolled her eyes at them both. "What is there to believe? Nick is Koragg, he's the Master's puppet. He has probably been the Master's puppet all along too. Face it, it's over because that weasel sold us out!"

"Hey, that's my son your talking about," grunted Leanbow and gritted his teeth as pain rippled through his body.

"Hold still. This wound is deep" Udonna urged him. Without taking her eyes of her husband she started to give orders. "I need hot water and towels. Someone, bring me my herbs too."

Clare was the only who moved. The rest remained where they were. Daggeron and Udonna worked together to gently put down Leanbow on the couch.

Nick had given his father a nasty slash across the ribs on the left side. Only luck had saved Leanbow from being lethally wounded. At the very last second, he had twisted to the side so that Nick's sword had slid off his ribcage rather than cutting him in half. Then luck had stricken again as the Master had summoned Nick back to the underworld before Nick could deliver the final blow that surely would have meant the end of Leanbow's life.

As he now laid on the couch with Udonna hanging over him, he looked every bit the part of the wounded hero. However, that didn't stop Vida from lashing out at him.

"You saw what he did back there. He destroyed that village which he was meant to protect and laughed while doing it. He felt no remorse. And he almost destroyed you too, his own father. Why can't you see what I see? Nick is with the Master now. He's a rat, he's a snake!"

"Easy, V," Chip spoke from his corner of the room. "It's still Nick you're talking about. Our friend..."

"He's not our friend, Chip! He betrayed us."

"We don't know if that's really what happened. Yes, he destroyed that village and yes, he almost destroyed Leanbow, but it's still Nick. Our red ranger. He wouldn't do this. Something must have happened."

"Chip is right," Daggeron cut in before Vida could open her mouth. "We don't know for sure what's happened. Nick could have been hijacked by the darkness. It's happened before."

"What's happened is that Nick decided to kick us in the teeth," Vida growled. "I bet he has been the Master's servant all this time, just waiting to strike when we least expected it. He's probably off now whispering all about our strengths and weaknesses to the Master so he knows how to defeat us. We might as well surrender. It's all over."

Before Chip or anyone else could respond, Leanbow spoke up from his sick bed.

"Vida, the Master is cunning. I, if anyone, should know how wicked his games are. It is possible that Nick has been under the Master's spell for weeks without knowing it. We should give him the benefit of a doubt and not jump to conclusion. That is what the Master wants."

Vida wasn't convinced.

"Your son nearly killed you and you want to give him the benefit of a doubt? Nick's a traitor. He betrayed us. When are you going to get that through your thick head?"

"No one is denying what Nick did to that village, Vida," Daggeron said. "All we're saying is that we have only seen one side of the story. There might be circumstances that we don't know about. I've known Nick for weeks now and I am certain that he wouldn't have done this less unless he was coerced."

Daggeron's confident words was the drop that made Vida's scale tip over.

"Oh, what do you know, Aladdin. A few weeks ago, you were a frog!"

That was the start of a very ugly argument that soon involved everyone in the room and left no one unaffected. As verbal insults started to fly across the open space, no one seemed noticed the blue ranger quietly slipping out of the room.

* * *

Madison couldn't stay within the annual rings of the sacred tree any longer. Every second she lingered was another second she was suffocating. She need air - and fast! Her head was already spinning from the lack of oxygen. No matter how hard she tried to fill her lungs the lump in her throat prevented her from getting anything down.

With a vision quickly blurring from the tears she was fighting to hold back, it wasn't easy to make her escape. She stumbled and bumped into things in the dark passage leading to the dragon's mouth. She had to rely on the hand she had caressing the wall to find the way. Coarse surface that slit her fingertips raw with sharp slivers.

Finally, tumbling out into the open, a small cry escaped Madison's lips. She reached for her heart and crumbled as the flood of tears overwhelmed her along with the harsh reality. Nick was Koragg. Nick had betrayed them...

Madison felt the knife in her heart twist and she bit her lip hard not to scream. The unmistakable taste of blood immediately washed up on the tip of her tongue.

What have you done, Nick?

Madison forced herself to take a brief moment of rest from the crying to draw a much need breath. Air rushed down sore and swollen windpipes. The shock would have made her chest ache if it hadn't already been aching. She held her hand on top of the heart as if to protect it. Like there was anything left to protect. Her heart had shattered into millions of pieces when she had realized this wasn't all just a bad dream, that she hadn't anything to wake up from. That this nightmare was real.

A cascade of fresh tears escaped the red swollen pools her eyes had become. This time she let herself sob. How stupid she had been. She who had let Nick come close, so close he could steal her heart. She had thought herself to be safe with him, she had trusted him - confided in him! - and he thrown it all back in her face without hesitating. Had he been playing her all along?

Madison whimpered as the she recalled his laughter from before inside her head. There had not been a single trace of kindness in that laughter. Chills had run down her spine and for the first time since she met him she had been afraid of him.

Madison swallowed a sob and straightened her back where she sat on her knees on the soft forest floor. How stupid she had been for falling in love with him. Of course, it had been too good to be true. A handsome, confident guy like Nick didn't fall in love with shy wallflowers like herself. It was something for the theatres, not real life. How the others must be laughing at her now.

Madison wiped her tears with the back of her hand, sniffled, and glanced over her shoulder back at the dragon's mouth. They couldn't see her like this. If they saw her, they would know what a fool she had been and they would feel sorry for her. Sorry that she was so stupid to even think Nick could like her. Guys like Nick ended up with confident girls like her sister. Girls like Madison never got to play anything else but the annoying sibling in the background. When the end titles started to roll, she would be among the extras. Never the star, never the happy ending.

Rising to her feet, her breath partly returned to her although her windpipes still sounded like someone with asthma, Madison looked for a way to escape. She wasn't sure of much anymore, but one thing she knew was staying here meant she would find out just how much pity from friends it took to crush one's self-respect beyond repair.

Her eyes set upon the nearest the tree. Udonna had told them on their first day as rangers that the trees could take them anywhere. Anywhere was a large place. A large place took time to search for what one was looking for.

Madison didn't hesitate. She gathered her cape around her and darted into the sleek bark of a young pine tree.

* * *

The argument had gone out of hand. Vida, Chip, Xander stood around the crystal ball table, yelling at each other like politicians fighting for their cause. Daggeron and Claire had taken a step back and Udonna and Leanbow had withdrawn all together when Leanbow's pain had become too overwhelming. The sorceress had cleaned the wound from blood with the water Claire had fetched for her and was now applying a bandage full of healing herbs to her husband's ribcage.

"I knew Nick was trouble the moment he rolled into town on that motorcycle of his," claimed Vida. "I warned you guys from letting him in but you wouldn't listen."

"No, you didn't," spoke Chip, at the same time as Xander said: "That's bullshit, V! You were just as smitten by him as the rest of us. Admit it!"

"I'm not admitting to a lie. I knew Nick were trouble. You could tell by just looking at him." Vida crossed her arms underneath her chest as if to underline her point.

"Yeah," Xander said with a sarcastic snort, "and that's why you were the first one to volunteer to follow him into the woods that day - to show to everyone what a bad boy he was, not to impress him with your courage."

Vida gritted her teeth.

"At least I didn't hide behind Madison's skirt."

"I did not hide behind Madison - she hid behind me. And she wore jeans!"

On the opposite side of the table, Chip shook his head. "I can't believe we're actually arguing about what Madison wore that day! Nick could be out there destroying more villages as we speak."

"No, he isn't. The crystal ball would have told us if he was." Xander made a gesture towards the crystal ball which had only reflected the light of the room ever since they got back.

"I bet he's sucking up to the Master right now," Vida muttered under her breath, then sighed. "I can't believe what fools we've been. How could we not see what a rotten egg he is?"

"Didn't you just say you knew right from the start that he wasn't one of the good guys?" Xander arched a challenging eyebrow. Vida snarled like an annoyed snake but Claire cut in before she could come up with something crushing to say.

"Hey, arguing isn't doing anyone any good. You're Power Rangers. You should solve this as a team."

"Really? I feel rather powerless right now," Xander said gloomy.

"That's because you are." Vida returned the challenging look from before. "Face it, without Nick we're doomed."

"With that attitude we're doomed," Chip said sharply. "Nick was only one. There are four more of us. We have the strength to fight back."

"Chip is right." Daggeron finally decided to join the discussion again. "You can't give up. You are the Power Rangers. The people of this forest are counting on you. Without you, they have nothing."

"But Nick is the Red Ranger, our leader. If he's gone astray then..." Xander couldn't bring himself to end the sentence.

"We still don't know what happened to Nick. Until we do we must stay strong."

Vida snorted. "Sounds like you still believe Nick hasn't joined the Master willingly."

Daggeron's face remained as cool as ice but his voice sounded strained when he answered the Pink Ranger. "That's because I don't think he joined the Master willingly. Nick is the Light."

"What does that even mean - Nick is the Light? He's got more darkness in him than any of us. Remember when we first became rangers and the magic didn't work for Nick, he was ready to give up and skip town. Who says he hasn't done it again. Right, Maddy?"

Vida sought her sister's support in the matter since Maddy had been the one who had reached out to Nick that day and therefore knew very well how close it had been that Nick had left town. When no response came Vida turned her head. The spot where Vida was sure Madison had been standing not two minutes ago was now empty.

"Maddy?" Vida looked around in confusion. The others started to turn their head too. "Maddy!"

The blue ranger was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Serenity. That was what surrounded her when she finally stopped jumping through the trees. For what seemed like an hour or so, Madison had done nothing but to run from tree to tree, jumped from place to place with the speed of light. She had done it to keep pace with the storm of thoughts rushing through her head, as well as to confuse the others if they had noticed her gone and had taken Udonna's crystal ball for help in trying to find her. Any faintest memory of a place she had visited she recollected and put to good use until her body ached with her heart and she had to stop. The last image to pop up inside her head had taken her here.

Where here was Madison wasn't exactly sure of. She found herself standing on a path leading through a deep forest. A light snowfall dampened the sounds usually present in a forest. Like white rose petals, snowflakes descended from an iron grey sky and landed softly on the ground. A paper-thin layer of white already covered the path at her feet.

Madison hesitated for a moment for she didn't not recognise this forest but deciding she could not get more lost than she already felt inside she started to walk. In a slow pace she followed the path through a sleeping scenery. No birds were singing here, no animals were seen. It was just her, the trees and the silent snowfall.

It's a beautiful forest, she thought to herself. Almost enchanted.

She walked and walked; followed the dwindling path up and down a billowy landscape. For what seemed like hours she did nothing else but to place one foot in front of the other, listening to the soft crunch of snow underneath the soles of her shoes. Every now and then the path would make a sharp turn to avoid a tree trunk or a rock. Seas of bushes appeared and disappeared in a haze. At one point, bushes of blackberries joined her on both sides. Their thorns clawed at the hem of her cloak but Madison was only vaguely aware of the tugging. She felt numb; empty inside like a knocked over rainwater bucket. The storm in her head had stopped and not even the slightest breeze swept across the endless moorland of her consciousness. She couldn't feel her heart anymore. The place where it had been echoed hollowly.

Was this how it felt to have your heart broken?

Madison didn't think she was heartbroken, for that she needed her heart still inside her body and hers had been ripped out from her chest.

The forest had grown deeper around her as she walked but now it suddenly opened up in front of her. The trees parted and she found herself standing at the top of a small fold. At the bottom, a stream cut the fold in half; it's descend down the stony slope at the far end corner filled the air with a calming murmuring sound.

Upon seeing the water beneath her, Madison drew a sigh of relief. Water was exactly what she needed right now, to feel close to her element - her strength. She climbed down to the bottom, careful not to trip over the many roots hidden in the soft ground of the slopes. On a large rock next to the water, she sat down and donned her cloak around her for protection against the cold.

It wasn't without tears returning to her eyes that allowed herself to recall what had happened back at the village. How Nick's eyes had shimmered in lilac right before he had transformed into Koragg. How he had laughed at their shock. Madison tried to swallow a sob but ended up hiccupping and a spray of fresh tears escaped down her cheeks. She raised a hand to cover her eyes as she let the hurt wash over her full force.

* * *

"She's not on the roof", came Xander's voice from upstairs. A moment later the green ranger showed up at the top of the staircase.

"Not in the kitchen or the rest of the living area either," said Claire with a sigh, then added: "I even checked the winter storage. Nothing."

Vida put her hope to Chip who were the last one to return. His sloping shoulders and hands deep within his pockets told her of his finding before he did himself.

"Sorry, V. I checked everywhere.

Vida wrinkled her face into an expression of dejection. "She must be here. Where else can she be?"

"Are you certain she returned with us from the village?" Udonna asked her and put a motherly hand on Vida's shoulder.

"Yes!" the three remaining rangers replied with one voice.

"She was next to me when we walked through the dragon's mouth," Xander added and pointed. "She stood right there."

Vida nodded. It was the same spot she remembered to have seen her sister last.

"She can't have disappeared. She has to be somewhere," Chip said. "Is anything showing on the crystal ball?"

Daggeron took his eyes of the golden glass and shook his head.

"Nothing so far," he answered grimly.

"Is it possible that she has returned to the city?" Udonna asked the rangers.

Vida dwelled on the possibility for a moment. "I don't see why she would have when we have things to take care of here. And without telling us, too."

Xander joined them with a pondering wrinkle between his eyebrows. "She might have gone home to be alone. She and Nick were close. It might have been too much for her to see him... like that."

"Does she have a record of running away?" Leanbow asked from the couch.

"No!" Vida replied harshly. "I'm usually the one doing the run away." She snapped her head back to Xander. "What do you mean with she and Nick being close?"

Before Xander could answer, the crystal ball lit up behind them. Madison came into view. She sat forward folded with her face buried in her hands. Vida only needed one look on her sister's shaking body to know her twin was crying, a soft sob that tore a deep rift in Vida's heart.

"Maddy..."

Behind Vida's back Chip turned to Xander and Daggeron. "I don't recognise that place. Where do you think she is?"

Neither seemed to know but someone else in the room did. Udonna's face had grown stern while she had neared the crystal ball to have a better look.

"The Forbidden Forest," she murmured.

Vida didn't like the sound of that. She followed the white sorceress wearily with one eye as the woman crossed the room and walked up to the huge bookshelf. From the top shelf she pulled down a heavy volume that had seen much better days. Marks from fingers in the dust on the cover told them someone else had been holding the book recently.

"I'm afraid Madison has sought refuge to a cursed part of the forest where the winter is eternal and spring is nothing but a memory."

"Sounds like Narnia," whispered Chip to Xander, who for once understood the reference and nodded in agreement.

Vida ignored them. "Good, so you know where she is. Let's go and get her back." She was halfway over to the brooms before Udonna spoke again.

"You can't go there, Vida. None of us can. Only those who suffers can cross the border."

"But we have to get her back. We can't just leave her there all on her own. What if the Nick finds her? We can't let her face him alone."

"We don't have a choice," Udonna said, less apologetic than Vida thought was appropriate. "The Master showed us his power before through Nick. It is not wise to rush out there without considering the risks. Nick knows your strengths, he also knows your weaknesses. He will undoubtedly use that knowledge against you. We can't afford to lose anyone else to darkness; least of all, you three."

"All the more reason for us to go and get Maddy before the Master gets his hands on her. Then we will be four," Vida replied. "Look, I know you're concerned but Maddy is my sister. I can't leave her out there to face the darkness alone."

Vida was just about to turn back to her broom when Chip's voice cut through the air.

"Eh, V?" he said. "I think it's too late for that. He has already found her."

They watched in horror as the black clouds darkened the image of Madison crying in the snowclad forest.

* * *

Madison was pulled back from the gloomy place her mind had wandered off to, once the tears had stopped running, by a chilly puff of air finding its way in underneath her cloak. She shivered, blinked, and returned to the present. The fold was as quiet as it had ever been. Was it her imagination or had it turned considerably colder? Her breath left her mouth in white little clouds, that kissed the snowflakes coming from the sky, before fading into nothingness. The stream had frozen and the layer of snow had grown several inches deep.

I must have been here awhile, Madison realised. The shadows had grown taller. Their long fingers reached far into the fold. She couldn't see the sun through the grey covering the sky but she sensed that it had moved.

The others must wonder where I am.

Madison found it strange that they hadn't come for her yet. Vida must have noticed her absence by now and with Udonna's crystal ball it couldn't take her twin very long to find her. Had Vida sensed that she wanted to be alone?

Madison wiggled her toes. They had turned to icicles in her thin tennis shoes that came with the uniform.

I guess Udonna never intended for us to walk in snow, she thought. Strange since it was the white sorceress element.

Madison pulled out her hands from their hidings inside her cloak. Her fingers were just as stiff of cold as her toes. She tried to blow some life back into them and shuddered anew. This time it wasn't just from the cold. There was something else too - a feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on. It made her uneasy, like something was crawling underneath her skin.

She rose and stamped her feet a few times to get warmth back, persuading herself it was to get some heat back to her body and not because she was scared. She stretched and worked her limbs to get the circulation going, all the while she kept a wary eye on the forest above the fold. The flexibility returned to her fingers as her blood chased the cold away, the same thing couldn't be said about the strange feeling in her gut. It grew stronger until she recognised what it was. It was the gnawing feeling of being watched.

It took Madison every bit of self-control not to panic. She forced herself to act like nothing was bothering her but the cold. She cupped her hands in front of her mouth again and let out a puff of hot air. A twig cracking nearby made her spin around on the spot, heart caught in her throat.

Nothing but trees as far as her eyes could see.

"Feeling jumpy today, Maddy?" She laughed nervously to herself in a failed attempt to calm herself. She raised her hands anew to her lips, inhaled and...

There! Something moving at the outer edges of her visual field.

Madison's hair whipped behind her by the sharp turn of her neck. Again, she saw nothing. The forest laid perfectly still. Madison licked her lips and gathered her courage.

"Hello?" she called. "Is someone there?"

Her voice sounded weak and hollow among the trees. The enchantment she had felt before about the silence and the soft snowfall was quickly changing into something less pleasant. The tranquillity was no longer soothing.

"Vida, is that you? Hello? Chip, Xander? Come on guys, it's not funny."

For a brief moment she wished it was just her sister and her friends messing around with her, that they would jump out from behind a tree and say boo. But as the silence went on without as must as a leaf moving, the hope faded. Madison gathered her cloak around her and forced down a shiver. It had definitely gotten colder.

It was time to leave, she decided. Wherever she was, she wasn't in a good place. Everything that had felt right before, felt wrong now. She shouldn't have left Rootcore. She shouldn't have come here at all.

Madison arranged her cloak to take the first step back to Rootcore - that's when she felt his presence. Nick.

Like a chill coming down her, the hair on her neck and arms rose. She turned around in slow-motion and there he was, hidden in the shadows cast by the trees surrounding the fold. His eyes glowing in the same poisonous shade of lilac they had been back at the village.

Madison's breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. In the dimness surrounding him, his skin glowed as pale as the deep winter sun, his hair the colour of the darkest night. Madison swallowed. He was beautiful. The evil inside him seemed to blur his blemishes and highlight his most attractive features, making him all the more tempting to her. She drank of his beauty in deep, greedy gulps; knowing she would never be satisfied of looking at him even if she stared at him for a thousand years.

But no matter how luscious his lips were, or how strong his jaw looked clenched, it was his eyes that set her afire. So intense they could cut through stone, his eyes stripped her off her clothes until she felt as naked as the day she was born and with all of her secret laid out in the open for the whole world to see. The vulnerability and the exposure should have set her running, but all it did was making her desire him even more. Like an innocent lamb in front of a lion, she stood at the bottom of the fold shivering.

"Are you lost, Blue Ranger?" His voice was music to her ears. She swallowed and tried to resist the urge to surrender herself to him.

"I am not lost," she told him with a voice that trembled at the end. "I came here by purpose."

"This is not a place for rangers," he told her. "Especially not lone ones."

Goosebumps prickled Madison's skin. His voice was so cold, like frozen steel. The way he emphasized the last part made her wonder if he knew about her escape from Rootcore. Maybe he had followed her here...

The thought tickled her entrails more than she wanted to admit. She felt equal part anxious as exhilarated at the thought of him shadowing her every move, protectively.

"I can go wherever I want to," she told him and forced the silly part of herself into submission.

Nick stepped closer to the edge. Madison's heart rate picked up speed by each step. The effect he had on her... it was excruciating.

"Sensible people tends to stay away from this place. They say the grounds here are cursed and dark creatures lure in every shadow - dangerous and vile creatures. Not a place for a mermaid."

"I can defend myself!" Madison winced at the childish defiance in her voice. She sounded like an unruly five-year-old, not so different from Vida when they had been that age.

Above her, on the edge of the fold, Nick smirked wickedly.

"Undoubtedly you can."

He didn't believe her and, heck, she didn't believe herself either. Her strength had never been in single combat. She was a full-fledged team member, a real asset to the group but quite useless on her own. Nick and Vida were the strong fighters, Xander and Chip did a good job holding their own too, but her? Not so much. She knew that... and Nick knew that. How many times hadn't he to come to her rescue? Madison felt her courage falter, not that it had been all that great to begin with.

As Nick began to descend down the slopes, Madison's heart beats quickened once more. Pearls of sweat started to form on her forehead while shivers rippled through her body. Somewhere in the far back of her head, a voice told her to run but her feet didn't move. She was paralyzed. He was so beautiful. Mesmerizing even. The cloak barely moved around him. It looked almost as if he was floating down the slope.

Moments later he stood on the bottom of the fold, on the opposite side of the stream. He watched her with eyes glowing with the spirit of the Wolf Warrior. Madison knew the lilac should terrify her but it didn't. The colour only added to his beauty. It was as if it had been the missing piece need for perfection. It gave him a regal look. In his presence, she felt like the lesser being, not even worthy the ground on which he was standing. He was the sun and she was space dust. If she got too close, she would vaporize.

"The forest is not for _mermaids_ ," Nick told her. "They belong in the water but as you can see, the waters here are frozen."

In the foggy state her mind was currently in, Madison couldn't think of anything sensible to say to that. She had heard the warning, though. The way he pronounced _mermaids_ , as if it was a bad thing.

"Why did you do it?" she asked him. "The village, why did you do it?"

"Because I could." The reply was immediate and sharp as steel. "I am Koragg the Wolf Warrior. The Master's loyal servant. I do his biddings. Those villagers were on his lands. They needed to be taught a lesson."

"They were nothing to you!" Madison spat. "They were simple men, women and children living their lives in peace. They were nothing to you..."

"And now they are even less." The wicked smirk returned to Nick's lips.

Madison shook her head, trying to clear her head from the fog while trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. She failed miserably with both.

"This isn't right," she said as the first tear broke free. "You're the Light. You were supposed to save them from the darkness, not bring it to them."

"I am the darkness," Nick interrupted.

"No, you're not! You're the Light. You have always been the Light. Come back to us, Nick. Please, we need you."

"Nick is gone."

Madison refused to believe that. He couldn't be gone. Not Nick. Not her Nick!

As more tears sprung free from her eyes, Nick started to laugh. A horrible sound that crushed whatever part of her that still remained.

"Did the White Witch and the traitor really think they could persuade me to leave the Master's side by sending their weakest ranger to me, crying? Were they too scared to come out here themselves?" Nick looked at her like she was dirt stuck on his shoe. "You are nothing compared to me, Blue Ranger. You've always been nothing, the weakest link. Not worthy of being a ranger. I would do you a favour to end your miserable life, but why go through all that trouble for someone who isn't worthy?"

He was right, Nick was right. She was the weakest link in the chain, always had been and always would be. There was no point in denying it. Too shy to put herself out there, too scared of her own shadow... she wasn't worthy of the being a ranger. Not even the blue one.

"You're one of us, Nick," she said meekly, fighting hard to not give in for the poisonous thoughts darkening her mind. Was this the Master's doing? "Come back to us. You belong with us."

"Pah!" Nick snorted contemptuously. "I've known my place since the day I was born. It's with the Master. He holds the true power. I was a fool to let the White Witch lure me into her web of lies. The Master has given me more powers than I could ever dream of. Why should I go back to being a pesky ranger in the White Witch's leash when I could be invincible with the Master?"

Madison stared back at him in defiance. An anger she hadn't felt before had awoken inside her and it grew stronger by each word coming out from Nick's mouth.

"No one is invincible, Nick, not even the Master. He was defeated in the Great Battle between good and evil, and sent to the underworld for eternity."

"Defeated, maybe, but not destroyed. What is not destroyed can rise again. The Master will soon be rid of the chains that confines him to the underworld. Just you wait and see, little mermaid."

"Remember your father then? He was the Wolf Warrior before you and he got defeated."

"He was a traitor, not worthy of the Wolf Warrior's might."

"He was worthier than you'll ever be!"

Where she found the courage to spit those words, she didn't know but she immediately come to regret them as Nick sprung forward with a growl. In a heartbeat, he had made it across the stream and closed the distance between them. Madison tried to dodge him but her reflexes were to slow. Nick's hand found her throat.

"My father is a weak man!" Nick snapped only inched away from her face. "A pitiful excuse of a warrior. A coward! I am ashamed of being his son!"

"Your father is a brave man," Madison snarled through windpipes threatening to be crushed by Nick's hand. "He sacrificed himself to protect his family and friends against the darkness. He remained true to loved ones even after the Master had dug his claws into him and turned him into Koragg. Your father defied the Master even when he was under the Master's spell."

"My father is a fool. Everyone knows the Master will prevail. No one can stop him. You least of all, little mermaid!"

The grip around her throat hardened until she had to fight for every breath. Light-headedness came at once, her lungs began to scream for oxygen, and yet all she could think about was Nick.

"I'm not afraid of you," she told him with tears now rolling down her cheeks freely. "I know you, Nick."

"Nick is gone!"

The grip hardened again, this time to seal off all her chances of getting air down to her lungs. Madison tried desperately to gasp for air, clawing at his fingers to make him release her, but in vain. Black spots began to dance before her eyes. A sure sign that death was closing in on her. It wouldn't be long now. Her body grew weaker with every second. She could feel herself loose the will to fight.

Where were the others? Why hadn't they come to rescue her? Had they even noticed her gone?

 _Oh, V_ , she thought bitterly, _please forgive me. I know I shouldn't have run away._

A fresh spray of tears escaped her eyes as the pain in her chest grew unbearable. She would die here. If the others didn't find her before her last breath, her body would lie down for its eternal rest upon these cursed grounds. The thought was saddening and yet there was some comfort in it too. The curse existed due to unrequited love, she remembered it from the book Udonna had forbidden her to read, and unrequited love was what she felt for Nick. Just like princess in the legend, she would die from the hand of the man she loved. There was some poetry to that, she supposed.

Madison looked at the man strangling her. Lilac was all he was. _Koragg!_

Her vision grew darker as her life began to slip away, the pain faded into the background. With her last breath she whispered the words she had never dared to tell him: "I love you, Nick", and prepared herself to die.

But death didn't come.

Just as darkness was about to close on her, the pressure around her throat disappeared. Much needed oxygen rushed to her lungs so fast it felt like someone shoved a huge stone down her throat. The support of her body disappeared along with the pressure around her throat and Madison fell down to the ground in a sorry snivelling heap.

Her throat ached where Nick had held her. Every inhale caused pain rippling through her body. Snot and tears turned her face into a wet mess. But she was alive!

When she finally had her wits around her enough to look up, she saw Nick standing a few steps away from her with a confused look upon his face. The hand with which he had held her was still reaching out in front of him but the fingers had no strength in them. He stared at it like he didn't recognize it.

Madison scrambled to her feet. She had seen something flashing by in his eyes if only for a second. A tint of green among the lilac.

"Nick?" she said cautiously, struggling to get the words out. Her vocal cords had been crushed under Nick's hand and ached terribly when she tried to use them. Her voice came out raw and wheezy.

"Nick?" she said again and took a small step forward. This time Nick looked at her and for a brief moment she saw the green.

 _Nick!_ He was in there, trapped by Koragg. Madison hurried to close the distance between them.

"Maddy, stay away!" Nick stumbled backwards. The green flickered in his eyes like a candle exposed to draft. Madison ignored his request and followed him. Her Nick was in there and he needed her help to free himself from Koragg's claws.

"I know he's in there, Koragg," she growled. "I'm not letting you have him."

"Foolish girl!" the Warrior snarled with Nick's voice. "He is mine."

Madison approached him again, one step at the time. Her eyes never for second wavering from his face. She had a new confidence about her, she knew what she had to do. It meant risking her life but it was a risk she was willing to take. For Nick.

"You told me I am the weakest ranger yet you are backing away from me. Why is that, Koragg?"

Koragg hissed and snapped like an angry snake but he kept pulling away from her. Madison circled around, slowly forcing him into a trap of her own.

"You're not having him. Nick belongs to us."

"Nick is gone!" the Warrior spat. "I killed him."

"No," said Madison calmly. "I see him in your eyes and I think he fighting against you." As to confirm her statement, the green return to the Warrior's eyes. When Madison spoke again it was directly to Nick. "Fight him, Nick. You're stronger than he is. Fight him!"

"Maddy…"

She wanted to cry of happiness. He heard her.

"I'm here, Nick. Fight him!"

"He's too strong…"

"No, you're stronger. You need to push through. Don't give up."

"I can't…"

"Yes, you can. You're stronger than him, I know you are. Please Nick, fight him."

The flickering grew weaker. Nick was losing, Madison realized to her horror. Koragg was too strong. Madison started to panic. She couldn't lose him, not like this. She needed to help him but how? She searched her brain for something to say, something that could buy them time.

"I need you to fight, Nick, for the team. For your parents and Daggeron. For Toby, Phineas and Leelee. For all that is good in this world…" The flickering was so weak now. Nick was slipping away from her. He wasn't going to make it.

"Fight, Nick," she pleaded in desperation, "for me. I need you."

"Maddy!"

Tears whelmed up in her eyes and crashed down her cheeks in larges waves. Nick sounded so far off. Koragg was winning.

"I should have told you before," she sniffled, "but there has always been something in the way. V, us being rangers and colleagues… but mostly my own fear. I haven't dared to let you know how I feel about you because I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same way, but I'm not afraid anymore. I love you, Nick. I've loved you since the day we first met. Do you remember? It was after the earthquake, you had just arrived to town and you were fixing your bike outside Rock Porium. I was hiding behind Xander because I didn't know what else to do. You looked so handsome that day and I… uhm…"

The words failed her for a moment. It was strange to pour her heart out like this but oddly enough very refreshing at the same time. In front of her, Nick stood grunting. She had backed him up against a steep slope of the fold, which he wouldn't be able to climb, and sealed off all his escape routes. He was in her mercy now.

Madison took a deep breath and continued.

"Then the rest of us became rangers but you struggled to find your powers. I reached out to you, asked you stay. I didn't say it to you back then then because I was too shy to put it out there, the real reason I wanted you to stay was because I wanted to get to know you. You had stolen my heart and I wanted to steal yours in return. "

Madison inhaled again. It was time to take the plunge. "I love you, Nick, with all of my heart."

In her next move, she showed no mercy. With one single step she had closed the distance between them.

"I love you…" she whispered and pressed her lips against his.

Time and space ceased to exist around them. The fold and the surrounding forest faded into the background and for a moment all that existed was the sweet sensation of her lips upon Nick's. Madison had never known a kiss to be so sweet. Warmth spread from her lips, through every limb and set her whole body on fire. She felt alive. Breathless. Light-headed. More than anything she didn't want this moment to end.

End came however. The spell of surprise broke and Madison prepared herself to be brushed off, to be rejected. When nothing happened, she gave Nick every last ounce of her love and broke the kiss.

When opening her eyes, she was convinced she would find herself staring into the luminous lilac eyes of Koragg but what she saw was closed eyelids. Nick had shut his eyes.

No more had she stated the fact before Nick began to scream. A horrifying, heart-wrenching scream. Madison staggered backwards in fear. Nick's knees buckled under his weight and he crumbled to the ground, limbs distorted in pain.

It was then she saw it, the black smoke rising up from his body.

 _The Wolf Spirit,_ Madison thought.

The smoke formed a cloud that snarled at her, snapping its wolf teeth at her. Then with a final lash out, it vanished among the trees. Returning to its Master.

Madison sank down on her knees beside Nick once it was gone. He laid in a sobering heap on the ground, his cloak twisted all around him. He whimpered of lingering pain, panting as if to trying to catch his breath after a long run. With the gentle grace of a woman tending to her love, Madison clutched him tightly to her chest. Donning his cloak around him to protect him from the cold.

"Maddy…" The weak whisper made her look up from his cloak. Green met brown. "I'm sorry… for everything!"

"Ssh, it's okay." Madison caressed his cheek tenderly. "We're okay."

"I almost killed you."

His eyes were tired and filled with remorse. Madison's heart ached.

"It wasn't you, Nick. It was Koragg. You couldn't help it." She gave him a soft smile and new caress across the cheek. Nick closed his eyes and took a trembling breath. Then he opened his eyes again.

"But I could, I could have fought harder. I…" He sought her eyes. "You saved my life, Maddy."

Madison blushed shyly. Yes, she had saved him. The same way she had saved Daggeron from his curse — with a kiss.

 _What a fierce warrior I am_ , she thought grimly. Nick must have sensed what she was thinking for suddenly his fingers were on her cheek. His eyes were all green when she met his gaze.

"I need you too, Maddy," he whispered. "I need you just the way you are. Not as a fierce warrior or a powerful witch, just you to be my strength when I am weak. To be my conscious when my judgement gets clouded. To talk sense into me when I'm second guessing myself. The world needs the red and the green and the yellow and the pink ranger, but I need the blue ranger. I need _my_ mermaid."

Madison blushed and tried to look away but Nick cupped her chin and forced her to look at him.

"I love you too, Madison Rocca," he smiled. Then, with the strength he had left in his body he pushed himself up to gracefully place his lips on hers. As he did so, the clouds above their heads dissolved and pale rays of sun showered them. Spring had finally come the Forbidden Forest.

* * *

Back at Rootcore, Xander gave up a loud cheer when kiss was displayed on the crystal ball.

"I knew it! I knew they liked each other. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

Xander grabbed hold of Claire and started to waltz her about the room, Claire squealing with joy. Chip joined their celebration with smile of his own.

"I think we all knew how Madison felt, she's been smitten since day one. It's nice to see her feelings being returned, however corny the confession was…"

Xander laughed. "Nick will – so – not live this one down. I will henceforth call him Loverboy."

Chip chuckled. "Loverboy and Casanova, what heartthrobs the two of you will be."

Claire's giggles filled the room as Xander twirled her around. Chip shook his head at them, love wasn't just in the Forbidden Forest.

Chip glanced at Vida and his smile faded. Vida was sickly pale. She was gripping so hard around the edge of the table her knuckles were turning white. She stared at the romantic scene being displayed on the crystal ball with a mix of disgust and horror.

"V?" Chip said cautiously. "V, are you okay?"

Vida came to life with a snarl.

"I'm gonna kill him!"

She darted towards the brooms but Chip caught her before she reached them. With his arms around waist, Chip quickly learned what it must be like to fight a lioness.

"Wow, V, calm down!"

"I will not calm down. He's molesting my sister!"

Vida changed her mind and pushed forward towards the entrance with Chip dragging behind her.

"I don't think she minds it. Madison likes Nick. She's been secretly in love with him for ages. I thought you knew that."

"Well, we can easily say I didn't. When I get my hands on him, I'll squeeze the life out of his miserable body. No one touches my sister and gets away with it. Now get off me!"

With a growl, Vida broke free and Chip fell face down to the floor. Luckily, Daggeron was there to stop the Pink Ranger from leaving Rootcore.

"Get out of my way!"

"Oh, no, you're not going anywhere with that temper. I suggest you calm down and see sense of things."

"See sense of things?" Vida gasped as if Daggeron had just slapped her. "Nick has his greedy hands all over my sister. I'm not going to see sense!"

"Oooh, somebody is jealous that lil'sis gets all the action," Xander teased when he and Claire swirled passed them. "You know, if you sweetened that tongue of yours maybe someone would give you a kiss too."

"Bite me, Xander!"

The green ranger laughed and set Claire for a new spin.

At the other side of the room, Leanbow had gotten to his feet and limped over to the crystal ball with a blanket in his hands.

"I think we'll give these two some privacy," he told his wife. "They've deserved it."

He put the blanket over the crystal ball, shielding the two young lovebirds as the sweet innocence of the first kiss was replaced with something much more passionate as the kiss deepened

* * *

AUTHOR: Please leave a comment below to let me know what you think.


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